Men’s Fashion Week: RICK OWENS and his « Temple of Love » collection

Rick Owens’ TEMPLE OF LOVE SS26 menswear show at the Palais de Tokyo, presented on the forecourt of the museum during Paris Fashion Week, stood out for its audacity and showmanship.

Paris Fashion Week was much more than just a presentation; it was a visceral and theatrical prelude to his highly anticipated retrospective exhibition, aptly titled « Temple of Love. » Staged in its iconic venue, the Palais de Tokyo, the show transformed the space into a dynamic and interactive testament to his enduring vision.

This time, the models emerged from the water. In what resembled a kind of baptismal procession, they emerged from the fountain under a blazing summer sun, their bodies soaked, their platforms soaked, their silhouettes trailing water across the stone. The image was laden with symbolism: rebirth, exposure, vulnerability.

Breaking away from conventional runway setups, Rick Owens orchestrated an event where all guests were standing, gathered in complete privacy around the colossal fountain at the heart of the Palais.

The designer thus demonstrated consistency in his spring efforts, enlisting Terry-Ann Frencken, his first showroom model turned cashmere designer, to reproduce some favorite knits from the early 2000s; returning to destroyed and deconstructed garments in a leather jacket collaboration with the New York punk band Suicide; and developing new versions of his signature flight jackets and parkas, here in silk taffeta or nylon canvas.

Owens’ signature blend of « European sophistication through American candor, » with designs showcasing exposed flesh in black leather, studded straps, slashed Tuscan leathers, voluminous flight jackets, and « Burrito Sneakers, » were showcased this season.

Perhaps the most unexpected element was a statue, seemingly in the image of Owens himself, casually urinating in the very space where the models performed this act of rebirth. The statue hovered uninterrupted for the duration of the show. It was impossible not to see it, and this was deliberate. At a moment when everything else was poised and profound, this statue gave way to irreverence, absurdity, and a nod to Owens’s mythology.

The fog moved with intention, timed to veil and reveal each model like a smokescreen. The lighting was natural and stark, uncompromisingly sincere. There was no music, just the sound of water and movement. Everything was elemental. And the models melted into it, merging with the rhythm of stone, sun, and steam.

The « Temple of Love » retrospective highlighted Owens’s consistent ability to fuse performance art and fashion, using his shows as profound statements exploring themes of rebirth, resilience, and an almost sacred acceptance of the human form in all its glorious imperfection.

Embracing themes of purpose, Owens’s designs embody « European aesthetic sophistication through American brutality, » highlighted by flesh exposed in slits of black leather. The exhibition, which Rick himself is the artistic director for, will feature designs from his early days in Los Angeles to his current collections, as well as childhood books, a recreation of his L.A. bedroom, which he shared with Michèle Lamy, and a sculpture of him urinating (yes, really). This is only the third retrospective at the Palais Galliera devoted to a living designer (following exhibitions on Azzedine Alaïa in 2013 and Martin Margiela in 2018).

He said he was inspired by the Countess of Castiglione, an 18th-century Italian aristocrat who commissioned hundreds of photographs of herself, up until her final years, when she locked herself in a mirrorless apartment and « reduced her life to photographing her feet. »

Rick Owens used only bodies, water, and architecture to create tension, humor, and relaxation. In doing so, he reminded us that stillness can be cinematic, that space can be narrative, and that sometimes the most compelling performance is the one that dares to do less.

©2025 – IMPACT EUROPEAN

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Gabriel MIHAI

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